AN NHS body has denied claims it offered to pay an MP to support redundancies in Birmingham.

John Hemming (Lib Dem, Yardley) told the House of Commons he had been approached by a lobbyist who offered to pay him if he made a speech backing job cuts at the NHS Blood and Transplant Service (NHSBT).

He called for tougher rules on the work of lobbyists, after three former ministers were secretly filmed by a television documentary offering to sell their services to undercover journalists.

But the service said it had not employed the people who approached Mr Hemming and it would not have paid an MP for views on its work.

A spokeswoman said: “NHS Blood and Transplant is part of the NHS, and exists to save lives through blood, organ and stem cell donation.

“It is not a political organisation, and would not offer payment to an elected representative to publicly express a particular view about any aspect of our work.

“In January 2007 NHSBT approached an external company which specialised in organising conferences, to enquire about the possibility of sourcing an after-dinner speaker for a staff event.

“The company in question approached John Hemming MP about the possibility of giving a motivational after-dinner speech, without the knowledge or authorisation of NHSBT.

“Had the organisation been aware of this approach, we would clearly have advised it was not appropriate.

“In the event, the final programme for the conference did not include a motivational speaker.”

The dispute flared when Mr Hemming spoke in the Commons. He said: “A few years ago a lobbyist offered me a sum of money to make a speech in support of redundancies at the National Blood Service, which I found very strange.”

Because the speech would have taken place outside Parliament, it wouldn’t have been against Commons rules for him to have accepted payment, he said.